If 18th-century Virginians Could Extend these Rights, Why not 21st-century Americans?

This predecessor to the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights not only gives us some ideas about what Thomas Jefferson was thinking when he wrote the Declaration but why George Mason refused to sign the Constitution when the other framers did.

If the people of Virginia could recognize these rights before we declared independence, then what should prevent us now? If eighteenth-century Virginians could extend these rights to their neighbors, why not 21st-century Americans? Seeing so much of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in this declaration gives me a better understanding of the men who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to independence.

Our walk through this Virginia Declaration of Rights also showed me the why of George Mason’s refusal to sign the Constitution. How many sections of this document were missing in the Constitution that was drafted in 1787? How many rights not protected, how many restrictions on government not said?

Read the full article... watch and learn from Constitutional Expert Paul Engel; there is always much more to learn back at America Out Loud: https://americaoutloud.com.